- Jul 28
I pretended I was dreaming and it turned our whole day around
- Mia Wisinski
My nervous system was shot the other day and I was really on edge and agitated.
I felt stuck in “serious mode.”
Part of me knew that if I could “activate play mode” even just a little bit, we could all feel a little better.
But another part of me was like:
“NO. I don’t WANT to lighten up right now. I deserve to feel this way!”
It’s true, I did deserve to feel that way.
AND yet there was also this tiny voice asking:
What if you let go of clinging to serious mode… just for a minute?
That opportunity presented itself when I was folding laundry and all three of my kids wandered over to help.
Instead of saying, “Wow, guys! Thank you!” I decided to be silly about it and instead said:
“Ohhh wow. I know what happened. I fell asleep! Yeahhh, I’m sleeping right now and I’m having a great dream that my kids are all helping me fold laundry!!! This is great, never wake me!”
I JUST realized this idea probably came to me because the kids had been watching “Inside Out: Dream Productions” earlier!
They started pinching my arm to prove it was real but I wasn’t “falling for it” and kept trying to make other crazy things happen in my dream like candy fall from the ceiling.
then I’d say “ewww! All I can taste is stale fart air! This dream is sooo weird!”
They were all laughing.
And…
I felt the heavy rock on my chest lift.
Not completely.
But it was lighter.
Enough to reconnect and change the course of the entire afternoon!!
My invitation for you this week:
I wanted to share this because I think we all have moments where we can feel a little crack forming, where lightness is trying to come through…
but something inside us wants to cling to anger, hurt, or control.
I’m NOT saying we shouldn’t feel those emotions, so please don’t get me wrong here!!!
I’m definitely not promoting toxic positivity.
I’m just saying when you notice that little crack, try giving yourself permission to let a teeeeny bit of light in.
Because every single time I do, I never regret it.
Cheering you on always,
Mia 💞
P.S. If you are an Activate Play Mode member, we just moved our community onto the Circle app and it's AWESOME! So easy to chat with each other, and yes I am active in the group! This is included with your APM purchase, no matter when you grabbed it, so if you haven't seen an invite from me, reply here and I'll make sure to get you in there. 🥰
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